Terms and conditions

General

1. PRS membership, and our insurance scheme, are open to active residents' associations and companies responsible for private roads and estates in England and Wales. (Neither is open to private individuals.) "Active" signifies active management of the road or estate.

2. Residents' associations and companies may apply for membership, or insurance, or both. Applications are accepted at our discretion. Membership and insurance are subject to these Terms and Conditions and the Terms and Conditions of the insurers.

3. Membership and/or insurance may be started at any time, but will in every case run to the end of a month. When first taken out they will therefore run for a period which is at least a year but less than thirteen months, unless one is taken out after the other, in which case it will run to the same date as the other. Subsequently, either or both may be renewed for a complete year at a time.

4. A small number of residents' associations and companies makes use of managing agents. We regret that we are unable to accept applications for membership or insurance made through managing agents.

5. Residents' associations and companies with which we deal must provide and use a single contact agreed by us; that is, a resident who has the necessary access to and familiarity with the internet and email facilities, willing and able to act on behalf of the association or company, through whom all communications with us will be channelled. It is the responsibility of the agreed contact to make sure this rule (our "one contact only" rule) is understood and observed by all other residents. We do not retain, respond to or comment upon emails, phone message or letters from anyone other than the agreed contact.

6. Requests for our agreement to a change of contact must be made using the relevant form, and a change of contact will take effect if and when agreed by us but not otherwise. In particular, the obligation to act as the agreed contact does not cease merely because the contact is no longer involved in the management of the association, or has moved away.

6A. Where an agreed contact dissociates himself ore herself, expressly or impliedly, from the affairs of the relevant association or company, we will not invite renewal of PRS insurance or membership.

7. Information, guidance and access to precedents and other material is given in good faith, to members, insurance clients and others, and we make every reasonable effort to ensure that they are accurate and reliable; but no liability can be accepted for errors and omissions.

8. We reserve the right to alter these Terms and Conditions at any time and without notice, in order to meet changing circumstances, or regulatory requirements, or for any other reason. We also reserve the right to cancel membership or insurance or both, with or without prior notice or warning, for breach of these Terms and Conditions or misuse of PRS copyright material.

9. For the purposes of the Data Protection Act 1988, the relevant data controller is Private Roads Services Ltd and/or Ecclesiatical Insurance Office plc, and purposes for which data are intended to be processed are the administration of contracts of membership and/or insurance and/or the supply of goods or services by Private Roads Services Ltd. In accepting these Terms and Conditions, customers and clients give their consent to the processing of personal data for these purposes and acknowledge that data may also be processed for the purposes of preventing money laundering or terrorist financing.

Insurance

10. Insurance is offered subject to the Terms and Conditions of the insurers and the completion and acceptance of a Statement of Facts (i.e. application) form. Further information about the requirements of the scheme is given on this website and in our literature.

11. The insurance rates given on our website and in our literature are annual rates; and where an insurance policy runs for a period of more or less than a year the premium will be calculated on a pro rata basis, according to the number of days of insurance cover provided.

12. Payment of the premium is due no later than 7 days after the start of cover, or (in the case of renewal) no later than 7 days after the renewal date.

13. We are the sole broker for our insurance scheme. Queries about the scheme should be addressed to us at the address given on our home page; and insured parties should advise us promptly of any claim or potential claim or any incident or development relevant to the risk.

Membership

14. The cost of membership is £40 a year for roads with less than 20 properties, and £60 a year for roads with 20 or more properties.

15. The first payment covers the supply of one copy of the latest edition (the 5th) of Private Roads: The Legal Framework.

Copyright

16. Members are entitled to access and use, subject to copyright restrictions, the resources in our members' pages. Nearly all this material, including precedents, model letters, information and advice, can be accessed without further charge, but for some precedents a small charge is made.

17. The material in our members' pages is copyright Private Roads Services Ltd. Newsletters, chapters of our online guide Managing Private Roads and Estates ("MPRE") and other material can be downloaded and printed off for future reference. We strongly recommend that it be kept together, in a suitable folder.

18. Copyright material may be copied to committee members/directors, and they may be supplied by the contact with the latter's name and password so that they may access our members'/iunsurance clients' pages.

19. We will usually give consent on request, without charge, for brief extracts to be copied more widely - e.g. in your own newsletter to residents. Please contact us first: we will need to know what is to be copied, when, and to whom.

20. In accordance with the Copyright, Designs and Patents Act 1988, as amended, extracts from copyright material which has been published by us, including our book and booklets, may be quoted. The use of the material must be within the principle of fair dealing, no more may be quoted than is necessary, and a suitable acknowledgment must be made. This provision does not apply to material which has not been published, including material in our members' and insurance clients' pages.

21. Copyright material may not otherwise be copied; and it may not be retained if membership ceases, with the exception of:

Copies of Private Roads: The Legal Framework which have been supplied by us to members, or which have otherwise been bought

Any material for which a fee has been charged

Material which has been incorporated into a document with our consent (for example a letter which makes use of one of our model letters) so long as that document continues to be relevant.

22. It is the responsibility of the agreed contact to make sure that limitations on the use of PRS copyright material are respected, and that if membership ceases all PRS copyright material which may not be retained, whether on computer or in paper form, is gathered together and destroyed.